Idiopathic inflammatory myopathies: CT characteristics of interstitial lung disease and their association(s) with myositis-specific autoantibodies.

Objectives: Interstitial lung disease (ILD), one of the most common extramuscular manifestations of idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIMs), carries a poor prognosis. Myositis-specific autoantibody (MSA)-positivity is a key finding for IIM diagnosis. We aimed to identify IIM-associated lung patterns, evaluate potential CT-ILD finding-MSA relationships, and assess intra- and interobserver reproducibility in a large IIM population.

Left atrial high-grade undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma protruding through the mitral valve.

Primary cardiac tumors are uncommon. Malignant neoplasms account for 25%, including 75% of cardiac sarcomas. A 53-year-old female complained of exertional dyspnea and orthopnea.

Reproducible and sustained efficacy of targeted therapy with vemurafenib in patients with BRAF(V600E)-mutated Erdheim-Chester disease.

Purpose: Histiocytoses are rare disorders with heterogeneous prognosis. BRAF(V600E) mutations have been observed in half of patients with Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) and in 50% to 100% of patients with Erdheim-Chester disease (ECD) patients. We recently reported short-term efficacy of a BRAF inhibitor (vemurafenib) in three patients with multisystemic ECD.

Findings of cardiac magnetic resonance imaging in asymptomatic myocardial ischemic disease in Takayasu arteritis.

Takayasu arteritis (TA) may affect myocardium and cause coronary stenosis. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence and pattern of myocardial disease in patients with TA, using late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) of cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMRI). Twenty-seven consecutive patients with TA and 80 age- and gender-matched controls without known cardiovascular disease underwent CMRI.

Multislice computed tomography to rule out coronary allograft vasculopathy in heart transplant patients.

Background: This study assessed if invasive coronary angiogram (CA) could be replaced by multislice (64- or 256-row) computed tomography (MSCT) to systematically rule out coronary allograft vasculopathy in heart transplant patients.

Methods: Electrocardiogram-gated contrast-enhanced MSCT (64-row for the first 25 patients and 256-row for the others) was compared with CA. MSCT parameters, adapted to the patient's weight, included 120 kV, 800 mAs, 0.

Evaluation of an edge-based registration method: application to magnetic resonance first-pass myocardial perfusion data.

Purpose: Quantification of cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) myocardial perfusion remains time consuming since it requires manual interventions to compensate for motion. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate a semiautomated registration method.

Materials And Methods: A rigid edge-based registration algorithm was applied on 10 patients who had rest and stress CMR acquisitions on three slice levels (apical, midventricular and basal slices).

Cluster analysis of arterial involvement in Takayasu arteritis reveals symmetric extension of the lesions in paired arterial beds.

Objective: The determinants of vessel targeting are largely unknown in vasculitides. This study was undertaken to identify patterns of vascular involvement in Takayasu arteritis (TA), using objective classification of vascular beds. We postulated that cluster analysis could unveil preferential associations between vascular beds commonly affected by TA.

Usefulness of computed tomography scanning in the diagnosis of aortic prosthetic valve pannus.

A 64-year old patient underwent aortic valve replacement with a bileaflet Medtronic Advantage prosthesis. Six years later, she presented with a recurrence of symptoms, at which time Doppler echocardiography revealed an obstruction of the aortic mechanical prosthesis (mean transvalvular gradient 35 mmHg). Both, transesophageal echocardiography and fluoroscopy failed to identify the mechanism of valve obstruction.

Erdheim-Chester disease: CT findings of thoracic involvement.

Objective: To retrospectively assess the association of mediastinal, cardiovascular and pleuropulmonary findings on chest CT of 40 patients with immunohistochemically and histologically proven Erdheim-Chester disease (ECD).

Methods: The multidetector chest CT images of 40 ECD patients were reviewed in consensus by chest and cardiovascular radiologists.

Results: Thirty-four (85%) patients had periaortic infiltration that extended around the aortic branches of 29 (73%).

Takayasu arteritis in France: a single-center retrospective study of 82 cases comparing white, North African, and black patients.

We conducted a single-center retrospective study to compare the characteristics of Takayasu arteritis (TA) among white, North African, and black patients in a French tertiary care center (Hospital Pitié-Salpêtrière, Paris). Eighty-two patients were studied (82.9% female) during a median follow-up of 5.

18F-fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography scanning is more useful in followup than in the initial assessment of patients with Erdheim-Chester disease.

Objective: Erdheim-Chester disease (ECD) is a rare form of non-Langerhans' cell histiocytosis. The aim of this study was to assess the value of whole-body scanning with (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) in a large cohort of ECD patients from a single center.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed all PET scans performed on 31 patients with ECD who were referred to our department between 2005 and 2008.

Is (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography scanning a reliable way to assess disease activity in Takayasu arteritis?

Objective: (18)F-fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) scanning has been proposed as a new way of assessing disease activity in Takayasu arteritis (TA), but previous studies have used the nonvalidated National Institutes of Health (NIH) global activity criteria, and thus might be biased. This study was undertaken to determine the value of PET scanning for assessment of disease activity in TA, by comparing PET scan data with clinical, biologic, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data assessed separately.

Methods: Twenty-eight patients with TA (according to the American College of Rheumatology criteria) underwent a total of 40 PET scans.